Heal the Bay has been advocating on behalf of the ocean and clean water for 30 years. Last week, we took time out to revel in this milestone with staff, Heal the Bay members, and friends at two super celebrations: an evening “Party like it’s 1985” Birthday Bash for adults, followed two days later by a family party at our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium.

Whether dancing the night away to 80’s tunes or decorating fish-shaped cookies at the Aquarium last Saturday, everyone had a terrific time celebrating the organization and all its accomplishments. Of course there are many to celebrate or their contributions to the festivities.

The gorgeously painted surfboards available at the silent auction were the work of artists Lindsey Nobel, John Colqui, Meex One and Norton Wisdom.

We are so grateful for the following vendors who helped make our evening Birthday Bash tasty, refreshing and fun:

Simmzy’s provided a delicious array of bites; thanks to Sam’s Club of Torrance for the yummy cupcakes; and Malibu Rum was the key ingredient of a signature 30th cocktail. Thanks also to Golden Road Brewing for sharing their L.A.-brewed IPAs and lagers.  

Fruit of the vine was flowing thanks to several wineries: Cline Cellars, Frontera, Rodney Strong, Francis Ford Coppola Winery  and Deutsch. And a very special shout-out to Corey Cline, long-time volunteer and former intern, friend of Heal the Bay, and principal wrangler of wine donations on our behalf!

Thanks also to Hotpoint – for donating a video booth that had everyone mugging and dancing up a storm.

Wells Fargo gave Heal the Bay a birthday present to last the year by sponsoring one free day a month at the Aquarium for the remainder of 2015. The Feb. 28 Family Birthday Bash was the first free day. Thanks also to the Los Angeles Public Library’s Store on Wheels for bringing their traveling book store/gift shop to the party.

And the party continues! For the remainder of 2015, Well Fargo’s generous present allows Aquarium visitors free admission the first Wednesday of the month from 2-5 p.m.

And they SCOOOOOooo-o-o-o-o-re!! The amazing staff at the Staples Center that is. Our passionate and devoted volunteers who make up the Heal the Bay Board of Directors were treated to a very special quarterly board meeting hosted at the Staples Center on Jan. 14.

With the important business of the day wrapped up, staff and board members enjoyed a Los Angeles Kings hockey game from their own plush suite in Hyde Lounge, complete with tasty beverages and snacks, and the best seats in the house.

Though our beloved Kings lost to the New Jersey Devils 5-3, everyone came away feeling like a winner, thanks to the gracious hospitality and generosity of Brian Hart, general manager at Hyde Staples, Laurel Washburn, sales and marketing Coordinator at Hyde, Ashley Sinclair, special events coordinator at Staples and Sanjay Bawan of RYG Events — definitely the “A” Team of event coordination!  Heal the Bay is deeply grateful for the support.

Speaking of support, last month’s Heal the Bay Youth Summit in Hermosa Beach received delicious help from Jeff Belandi, owner of Watermans Safe House for Surfers in Hermosa Beach. Belandi’s surf-centric restaurant provided lunch for our high school students, volunteers and staff. 

And finally thanks to Boeing for hosting a Corporate Healer Beach Cleanup earlier this week.  Fifty-nine employees cleaned the beach in Santa Monica, collecting 47 pounds of trash.

A big thank you to Subaru Pacific for sharing the love with us this holiday season. The car company runs a national campaign – Share the Love – each year; for every car Subaru sells between the last week of November and January 2nd, they will donate $250 to one of six charities.  Heal the Bay is thrilled to be one of only two local charities chosen. Twenty-six of Subaru’s customers have already selected Heal the Bay as their charity of choice – the goal of raising $10,000 looks to be within reach!

We are thankful for the rain – and incredibly grateful that the employees of Team One were signed up to do a corporate cleanup at Venice Beach shortly after the first round of rain.  Thanks Team, for removing 114 pounds of trash and 2,214 cigarette butts from the beach.

And finally thanks to Madewell, which shared a portion of sales from a recent evening of holiday gift tag decorating at The Grove. We honestly appreciate HonestlyWTF for choosing us as the beneficiary of that crafty fundraiser. 

Last Saturday our Santa Monica Pier Aquarium hosted S.T.E.A.M. Machines on the Pier—a day of fun and tinkering, art and innovation—all anchored by a Rube Goldberg machine contest. Thanks so much to our presenting sponsor, Time Warner Cable’s Connect A Million Minds Initiative, along with sponsor Bricks 4 Kidz. Thanks too to the Santa Monica Pier Corporation for their partnership in presenting this second annual event.

Congratulations to all the teams that participated in the Rube Goldberg machine contest: Santiago Canyon College; Cal Poly Pomona; Ánimo Venice Charter High School; Malibu High School; King Drew Magnet; Santa Monica High School; and Canyon High School.  Kudos to the four judges who donated their time and expertise to judge and offer feedback to the teams, including: designer Hector Alvarez; Adam Lichtl, director of research for Space Exploration Technologies; artist Brett Doar; and Betty Fekete of Time Warner Cable.

Thanks also to the vendors who spent the day demonstrating their amazing devices and giving visitors the opportunity to create, tinker and build: Dr. Sharp’s Steampunk Gear; Exploratory; iFly; Pacific Park; Peddler’s Creamery; reDiscover Center; Santa Monica High’s Team Marine; STEM Center USA; Steve Craig; ToyBuilder Labs; Trash 4 Teaching; TreePeople; and Vocademy the Makerspace.

And a special shout out to DJ Agent Blak, for keeping the stage lively and lyrical, along with Aquarium volunteer Jaclyn Friedlander and her team for building their own Rube Goldberg Machine to deliver a clean water message—and for demonstrating the contraption throughout the day. Check out the making of Friedlander’s machine!